《 天 元 大 陸 三 境 七 地 界 圖 》
《 天 元 大 陸 三 境 七 地 界 圖 》
Tianyuan, the so-called “Origin of Heaven”, is the easternmost of the settled continents, also referred to by its people as the Three Realms and Seven Territories (三境七地). These kingdoms’ histories are intrinsically intertwined with that of the great empires of the Material Plane, and like their mirror counterparts the system of cultivation is practised. The three realms are the larger of the territories, and where the most people live. Each of them is ruled by a “king”, who is a cultivator of the transforming spirit (化神) rank. The territories themselves take after the names of the kings, thus Fengyuan 馮元 gives the Fengyuan Realm 馮元境, Huaiyuan 淮元 gives the Huaiyuan Realm 淮元境, and Nanlung 南隴 gives the Nanlung Realm 南隴境. The Seven Territories are the smaller, border marches, where fewer people live, sightings of other races are more common, and where generally life is harder, but the untamed lands can present many hidden treasures. These seven lands are, clockwise from northwest, 萬居 Wan, 戌地 Syu, 蚩地 Chih, 庚地 Geng, 瀟地 Syiao, 喬地 Chiao, and 雚地 Guan. The borders of these kingdoms have largely been static throughout the millennia, with little territorial conflict between the elven realms. The three kings rule as equals, leading and protecting the seven outer territories, who bear the brunt of the incursions from wild outer lands.
The realm of Fengyuan lies to the north-east, with the territories of Chih to its northwest, and Geng to its northeast. As the northernmost great realm, its borders end where the wild north begins, and as such it and its closest realms suffer the brunt of the beast tide. The people of Fengyuan live in large concentrated cities of tens to hundreds of thousands, heavily fortified with magical formations, and backed by powerful cultivation clans to protect them against roaming beasts and monsters.
These cities can come in a variety of forms, from deep within mountain citadels to high up on humongous trees, to remote islands in the middle of lakes. The elves do not necessarily farm wheat and rice like humans do, but other staples that are common to the twilight, which don’t necessarily have to grow out of the ground.
The capital of Feng is called the Origin Tree 元樹, a tree many thousands of metres tall, situated at the centre of the realm. At the centre of the tree is Phoenix Palace 鳳皇宮, the seat of the Fengyuan Realm’s “Phoenix King”.
【元樹】Yuanshu
天門通矣，萬木之尊。地門形矣，萬草之皇。神尊九千丈，木靈千古久。一冠遮昏天，一枝萬民棲。荒野間只見威威然，馮皇元樹立中，千枝上只見茂茂然，蒼生依之安居。百里高冠鳳皇懸，千層根須靈鹿嬉，是馮元境浩都也，東北之王。
The realm of Huaiyuan lies to the south, by far the richest, most populous, and most peaceful of the three major realms. Bordering neither the Wild North nor the Kunwu mountains, with only the oceans as its’ edge, Huaiyuan is a relatively settled land with little in the way of conflict. Whilst the mountains and forests are still wild, much of the plainlands have been covered in agriculture, growing crops unique to the Twilight. Bordering Huaiyuan are two small territories, being Syiao to the southeast and Chiao to the southwest.
It lacks the powerful cultivation sects of the other realms, being militarily much weaker than its neighbours. However, the ruling House of Huai like Feng and Nanlung are an ancient lineage with many unknown secrets.
Being the most propserous of the three realms, in times of crisis the Huaiyuan King is obligated by ancient pact to lend support and resources to its northern and western neighbours, even personally coming to their aid should the situation be dire.
To the east Huaiyuan and Fengyuan border the House of Xuanyang, the mysterious dragon-kingdom that lurks in the depths. There is much enmity between the House of Xuanyang and the elves of Tianyuan, though clashses are rare, much covert activity occurs between the two powers, and the people of Huaiyuan dare not sail far out to sea.
To the south across the endless sea is an even more mysterious place called the 南凱一綫天 Nankai One Line Sky (Nankai-a-Chisanten) which is said to be the first threshold of the Land of Five Suns, and is impassable to all but the most powerful.
The Capital of Huaiyuan is the 東江門 East River Gate, and is most like a human settlement, a vast metropolis built on the confluence of two waterways in the south, with traders on river ships crowding the banks.
【東江門】Dongjiangmen
三江會慶千舟泊，五岺洞天彩花多，
飛檐玉路金作市，三出三進東江河。
只見碧帆其飛，金舶其游，三城環環闕樓高，億萬石府緊密。人如流水市塢鬧，寶珍奇物不窮。四方五丘成五行，林間田野殷麥搖。敢稱天元之心，靈庶之靈。
The realm of Nanlung lies west across the 重山 Chungshan mountains from Huaiyuan, occupying the western half of the Tianyuan continent. Surrounding it are the three territories Wan, Syu, and Guan.
Nanlung’s territory is the most dangerous of the three realms, with it bordering the Kunwu mountains to the west, full of monsters and dark beasts, and the wild north, with its beast tide. When the beast tide is particularly violent, it can even enrage the monsters of Kunwu, leading to a calamity so great that it decimates the great cultivation clans of Nanlung, having once or twice even taken the life of the Nanlung King.
To protect against this, long ago the Kings of Nanlung built a great wall three layers deep and thirty thousand li long, from 北螢 Beiying in Wan, through 金中 Jinchung in Nanlung, to 南港 Nangang in Guan. These three walls are etched with numerous magical formations, and lined with powerful weapons, a cost so great it nearly emptied not only the royal coffers Nanlung but all three realms of elvenkind.
They call it the 金剛城 chin-kaan-shen, or Wall of Diamond.
【金剛城】Jingangcheng
喻！金剛城也南隴鎮國之寶，南北赤川三萬里。北逹荒中邑北螢，南至風海邑南港，中座皇將金中堡，仙師無數居闕樓。《廣記》曰：百丈仙壁高如山，萬里神墻長如蛟。永隔崐峿人土安，遠拒陰魔國家平。宏哉威哉，而靈人安泰！
The culture of Nanlung is a martial one, prizing bodily strength or magical prowess, and similar or more extreme than Fengyuan, the people of Nanlung live in heavily fortiifed citadel-towns, governed by cultivation sects. Of these the most powerful reside close to the Wall of Diamond, whose disciples through life-or-death experiences fighting against dark beasts comprehend the way or gain great treasures.
The traditional captial of Nanlung is 慶臺 Tsingtai, a magnificent citadel built atop a flat-top mountain nine thousand feet tall, but the king oft holds court in the central stronghold of Jinchung, along the Diamond Wall.
Cities beyond the Diamond wall no longer fall under the direct control of Nanlung or its nearby territories, even if they nominally swear fealty, and during incursions by dark beasts, do not receive the Kings’ help, but because of this dangerous situation their peoples are often the most hardiest, their cultivation sects the strongest and most mysterious, are there are powers close to the Kunwu Mountains that even the Kings of Nanlung have to be careful around.
【慶臺】Tsingtai
平頂高舉九千里，八重城墻祭臺巖，慶時歡喜酒流畅，哀時市寂鬼靜默。仙峯之遙，非神獸不可達，城墻之厚，非真魔不可破。南隴一境，地野人悍，慶臺一方，荒古威強。若言他彩是莊，若曰他華是肅，是慶臺一座，仙嚴之相也。
The seven territories are smaller kingdoms, ruled by royal houses which bear the same name. They are generally at the periphery of civilisation, bordering wildlands and endless seas.
Each territory is nominally subordinate to its closest realm, and in matters of military submit control to their lord King, but otherwise are left independent to govern themselves.
These territories are generally wild, untamed lands, sparsely populated, its people clustered in isolated, fortified cities. As such, their lands are often poor, and people tough and hardy. Whilst small and few in the luxuries that can be seen in the larger realms, many adventurers flock to these hinterlands, as within the wilds are often great treasures — whether precious materials from rare beasts, strange herbs and flowers, or an ancient ruin of a long lost time.
The four territories to the north and west particularly are known to be especially dangerous places, and even though the diamond wall protects adventurers from the dangers of the Kunwu Monutains, some dark beasts still appear on the other side. And there is no similar wall to the north.
Whilst there is no Spirit Abyss the Kunwu mountains are no less, and arguably even more impassable, cutting off the eastern territories, the continent of Tianyuan and the House of Xuanyang.
Trying to pass through the wild north is hardly less dangerous, but through the cloud forests of the southwest, although treacherous and full of dangerous beasts, one could still navigate along the coast until the mountains fall away once again, revealing the continent of Syilavaen, or Syiafeng.
However, the Windswept Sea 風海 of the southwest is also full of monsters, and so few ships dare make the journey. Syiafeng and Tianyuan have limited contact, with little information passing between them.